Also known as:
German: Nikolaus von Lyra;
Nicholas of Lyre;
French: Nicolas de Lyre;
Latin: Doctor planus, Doctor utilis, Nicolaus Lyranus
NICCOLÒ DI LIRA - N. di L. teaches from the chair. Illuminated initial of the Flemish school (1459), Incipit of the Postillae in Novum Testamentum - Vatican Library, cod. Urb. lat. 13, f. 17.
NICHOLAS OF LYRA (Lat. Lyranus). - Franciscan exegete, b. at Lyre (Normandy) ca. 1270, d. at Paris in October 1349. In 1292 he entered the Order of Friars Minor; from 1308 he was master of theology at Paris, from 1319 to 1324 provincial minister of the province of France and from 1324 of Burgundy. He carried on his literary activity especially from 1326. He is called doctor planus or utilis.
His genuine works number 12, the doubtful or pseudepigraphic ones 54. The principal among the former are the Postillae perpetuae in Vetus et Novum Testamentum (postilla litteralis), completed by the Moralitates or Moralia (postilla moralis). Also De differentia translationis nostrae et Hebraica littera Veteris Testamenti; Probatio adventus Christi; De visione divinae essentiae ab animabus sanctis a corpore separatis.
Of these works there exist more than 100 codices and more than 100 editions. Above all the great fame of N. and the enormous diffusion of the Postilla are explained by the fact that he set forth clearly and briefly the literal sense of Sacred Scripture, with full knowledge of Hebrew. He was not the first in the Middle Ages to expound the literal sense, but he freed exegesis from the excessive divisions and subdivisions then in use, which often caused more confusion than clarity, reducing to a more sober measure both the analysis of the text and the citations of more or less parallel passages.
Bibliography11 worksWadding, Scriptores, pp. 178-79; Sbaralea, II, pp. 276-281; H. Labrosse, Biographie et œuvres de Nicolas de Lyre, in Études franciscaines, 1
BIBL.: Wadding, Scriptores, pp. 178-79; Sbaralea, II, pp. 276-281; H. Labrosse, Biographie et œuvres de Nicolas de Lyre, in Études franciscaines, 16-17 (1906-1907); 19 (1908); 35 (1923), see indexes; Padri Maurini, Histoire littéraire de la France, XXXVI, pp. 355-400; F. Vernet, s. v. in DThC, IX, coll. 1410-1422; F. Schwendinger, De vaticiniis messianicis apud Nicolaum de Lyra, in Antonianum, 4 (1929), pp. 3-44, 129-66; P. Glorieux, Répertoire des maîtres en théologie de Paris au XIIIe siècle, II, Paris 1933, pp. 215-31; A. Vaccari, S. Tommaso e Lutero nella storia dell'esegesi, in Civ. Catt., 1935, III, pp. 40, 43; C. Spica, Esquisse d'une histoire de l'exégèse latine au moyen âge, Paris 1944, pp. 335-42.
Kleinhans, Arduino. “Niccolò di Lira (Lat. Lyranus).” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. VIII, col. 1822. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1952. https://azioneromana.com/article/niccolo-di-lira-lat-lyranus.
MLA
Kleinhans, Arduino. “Niccolò di Lira (Lat. Lyranus).” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. VIII, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1952, col. 1822. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/niccolo-di-lira-lat-lyranus.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec8_niccolo_di_lira_lat_lyranus,
author = {Kleinhans, Arduino},
title = {Niccolò di Lira (Lat. Lyranus)},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {VIII},
pages = {1822},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1952},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/niccolo-di-lira-lat-lyranus}
}
One of some 20,000 entries brought back from the twelve printed volumes (1948–54). Spotted something? Help us improve it.
Click or scroll to zoom · drag to pan · Esc to close
